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Vocabulary
As you come across new cybercultures vocabulary, add to our Wiki glossary and definitions. You can contribute to this page by: 1. Developing definitions of words that I have provided. 2. Complicating old definitions as you read and experience new ideas and thinkers. 3. Adding words to the list as you come across them. 4. Providing links to additional resources about the vocabulary word/phrase. These definitions should link to texts and class discussions about the terminology. They should not be a one sentence dictionary like definition. Think of Wikipedia as a model for the types of entries we are aiming for. But unlike Wikipedia, we are writing these definitions within the context of our classroom. You are not writing for the general public. *'Cyberculture' - The artifacts that are created by the displacement of world 3, through technology (Richards, 1/9/12) Internet, movies, television , etc. culture as a results of fast communication over mediums. *Cyberspace *'The "Black Box" fallacy' - all media content is going to flow through a single black box into our living rooms (or, in the mobile scenario, through black boxes we carry around with us everywhere we go) (Jenkins 14). Part of what makes the black box concept a fallacy is that it reduces media change to technological change and strips aside the cultural levels we are considering here (Jenkins 15). As Cheskin Research explained in a 2002 report, “The old idea of convergence was that all devices would converge into one central device that did everything for you (à la the universal remote). What we are nos seeing is that the hardware diverging while the content converges. …Your email needs and expectations are different whether you’re at home, work, school, commuting, the airport, etc., and these different devices are designed to suit your needs for accessing content depending on where you are-your situated context.”17 This pull toward more specialized media appliances coexists with a push toward more generic devices. We can see the proliferation of black boxes as symptomatic of a moment of convergence: because no one is sure what kinds of functions should be combined, we are forced to buy a range of specialized and incompatible appliances. On the other end of the spectrum, we may also be forced to deal with an escalation of functions within the same media appliance, functions that decrease the ability of that appliance to serve its original function, and so it can’t get a cell phone that is just a phone (Jenkins 15). There will be no single black box that controls the flow of media into our homes. Thanks to the proliferation of channels and the portability of new computing and telecommunications technologies, we are entering an era when media will be everywhere (Jenkins 16). *'Deliverance Technology'- Henry Jenkins conceptualizes deliverange technologies as "the tools we use to access media content" (Jenkins 13). He continues to theorize that it is actually deliverance technologies (laser-disc, VHS tapes, the vinyl record, et cetera) that 'die out' and change over time, not the media content itself. Jenkins believes that recognizing this reinvention and divergence of hardware but not media content is essential to understanding the Black Box Fallacy (see above). *Internet *World Wide Web *'New Media'- any kind of media that involves interactivity. New media is also a synonym for web 2.0 technology. This ineractivity is evident in the TV we watch (Jenkins: American Idol, Survivor, etc.), communication technologies (Skype, facetime, texting, Facebook, etc.), and even the videogames we play (Sims, Call of Duty, Halo, World of Warcraft, etc.) *Hybrid *'Transmedia Storytelling' - Is a proccess in wich a story is told over many medias using current technology. Examples of medias are: 1)Movies 2)video games 3)comic books 4)Action figures 5)Amusment parks An example could be a story is introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels and comics (Jenkins 98). The expansion over the different medias would be considered transmedia storytelling. The Matrix is a very good example were this technique is used. The matrix stems from comics and produced to a Hollywood film. The story also switched over to a video game and than later into other medias. Other examples we see today are Pokemon, Superman, Batman, etc. *'Convergence' - flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want (Jenkins 3). Convergence is a word that manages to describe technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes depending on who’s speaking and what they think they are talking about (Jenkins 3-4). *Computer Game *Hactivism *Cyberfeminism *Cyber-racism *Social Networking *'Cyberliteracy'- The ability to use computer technologies effectively and to understand the implications of those actions *Interface *'Fan fiction'- Fan fiction refers to the often eloborate non-canonical stories that fans or users of a certain medium or deliverance technology of that medium (such as a certain game, television show, anime film, et cetera). These stories are often not authorized by the creator of the source the fan fiction draws from (Jenkins 159), yet some fan fiction is embraced by original creators. Fan fiction can use characters already present in whatever world or story the new narrative is based on or create entirely new identies and shift the plot entirely. Fan fiction can be accompanied by fan made art, memes, inside jokes, and many other artifacts. *Participation *Meme *Interactive *Internet- "electronic networks that connect people and information through computers and other digital devices allowing person-to-person communication and information retrieval" (P. 12, Daniels) *Avatar *'Web 2.0'- The web application that allow participatory collective intellegence and collaboration on the World Wie Web. Web 2.0 is associated with interactivity. It supports users in their interaction through social media. Some examples are social networking pages (Facebook, Twitter), wikis, blogs, and video sharing sites (Youtube) to name a few. See New Media. *Cyborg *Virtual reality *'Flaming'- When your identity is anonymous it becomes easier to act more rudely, angrily, and aggressively than you would in a face-to-face interaction or environment. Cyberspace easily allows such anonymity. In addition, cyberspace makes it easy to have multiple indentites, permitting someone to act rude while using one identity and later easily switching to the use of another (Gurak 2). *'Global Village'- A term popularized by Marshall McLuhan , originating in the predictions of the scope of cyberspace. The global village described the instantaneous connection to other users, serving to create an 'electronic village' transcending borders, time and space.